Rogue Initiative Unveils VR Title ‘Crowe: The Drowned Armory’

Back in June, Rogue Initiative lifted the curtain on their brand-new AAA production company specializing in VR experiences, announcing they were already building a slate of projects, some of which would be created in collaboration with director Michael Bay.

At the time, all we knew of the newly formed Rogue Initiative was that work had already begun on a few interactive VR experiences, including an episodic action franchise, a psychological thriller and a stylized animated action adventure. Now the production studio is revealing a glimpse of their first VR experience, Crowe: The Drowned Armory, with key art and screen shots.

Crowe: The Drowned Armory, is slated to be the first chapter in a Crowe fantasy adventure series, planned to launch worldwide on major high-end VR headsets in early 2017. Players will take on the role of Crowe, a young villager who must interact with in-game characters to solve puzzles, combat an alien onslaught, and uncover the secrets of an ancient temple that could help unravel the true past of his society.

“The team is currently deep in development utilizing Unreal Engine 4 and excited to offer a closer look as we progress,” said Pete Blumel, co-founder and CEO of The Rogue Initiative. ‘We’re dedicated to building the narrative and world of Crowe in subsequent chapters and across various mediums including mobile VR and animation.”

The Crowe franchise is part of Rogue Initiative’s push to create original VR content and will feature a beautifully designed environment where sci-fi and fantasy come together. Although we were told Michael Bay is not involved with Crowe, the action director with big explosions will be collaborating with Rogue Initiative on another upcoming franchise.

The studio is building out its slate of projects for a global audience across VR, film, television and games. Rogue Initiative is backed by global investors, including Presence Capital, The VR Fund, Colopl Next and Outpost Capital, and is composed of a veteran team of award-winning entertainment industry professionals, including alumni from the original Call of Duty team, Amblin Entertainment, Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, Disney, Activision Studios, Sony Pictures and NBC.